Where we stand

Well, I had this big lofty plan to have this one big post (or series of posts) about all my past projects to bring the internet up to speed on my past projects and, therefore, my level of experience with knitting/crocheting. I kept putting off this big post for so long cuz I never had time to "really do it justice." So, I haven't said anything for forever. SO! I'll just babble about my CURRENT projects, and maybe that'll be a way to bring y'all up to speed... in a way. :-)

So yesterday (at 3.30 AM), I finished this shawl that I've been working on for about a month. I'm making it for my ex-math teacher cuz she paid me for it. OHMYGOSH it took forever ><>

But yeah. its done. :)

Lace Edging:

From the back:

From the front :D :

So yeah! That was an adventure. Now I can devote my attention to my camisole, which is WAY cool! :D I only have 13 inches so far, which is only 3 inches less than what I need to separate for front and back, and then do edging and straps :D

I also got some BRAND NEW yarn in the mail yesterday :D from paradisefibers.com, which is kind of the best place ever. I'm sooooo excited. :) I got some purple variegated worsted weight yarn, and I dont know what I'll do with it yet, but then I also got some BEAUTIFUL brown Kollage Yummy for a hat, and some nice home-grown brown wool (Sport weight) for some cabled socks I've been meaning to try out :D

SO YEAH! That's my knitting life right now :-) A big issue coming up is HOW ON EARTH i'm gonna take my stash with me to college ^^ I've concluded that my roommate is gonna hate me cuz there will be yarn ALL over the floor all the time :-)

Happy Knitting!

~YoungKnitter

Sock yarn issue

I had quite a tangle (hawhaw) with a particularly pesky skein of yarn today as I attempted to cast on my SECOND pair of socks I've ever made :-) I read somewhere that you can put the skein in a plastic bag, cut holes in each corner, and thread the two ends of the center-pull-skein through each hole, thus avoiding a huge tangley mess. ... Let's just say that didn't quite work out how I wanted it to. After some serious wrassling and quite a bit of muted cussing, I decided to give it up as a bad job and just roll the skein into two separate balls and keep them in the plastic bag together, with each end coming out each corner-hole. Confusing? Perhaps. A picture!!!! :D :D :D (I got a shiny new camera as a graduation gift yesterday, and am having WAY too much fun with it ^^) :

As you can see, the plastic bag is conveniently labeled so that the yarn from sock A is separated from the yarn for sock B! ^^ This skein is 100 grams, so I just rolled a ball until it weighed 50 grams, cut the string, and rolled the second half of the skein into a second ball. As you can probably tell, they're not equal in size, but whatevs. :-)

BTW, I'm using the 2-at-a-time method, knitting two socks at one time on one circular needle. Thus the two-strings-on-one-project nonsense. ^^

Whoops! Gotta go graduate! I'll write more later :-)

Today, I turned in my last homework assignments and took my last final exam of my high school career. My feelings of relief are almost overwhelming. ^^ 

Now there is nothing left for me to do but to show up to class and walk across the stage at graduation, which is next wednesday!!!

Oh, and blog. 

SO! The plan for the next few days (filled with a blissful lack of schoolwork) is to post pictures, descriptions, and comments on some of my more complex projects that I have done so far. I'll spare the world my many and varied blankets, but I will talk about my adventures felting and making my first pair of socks, etc. Once I've sort of established where I am skill-wise, I will be able to carry on with my current projects and all that jazz. :-)

Until then, happy knitting!

~YoungKnitter

Hello, World

This is my attempt to dive headfirst into a new fad: blogging. While I realize this fad isn't exactly "new," my last attempts at blogging were my petty middle-school mumblings on my Xanga... Needless to say, I've been a little off the bandwagon as of late. 

SO!!! On to the good stuff: why I'm babbling on the internet to no apparent audience: 

MY PURPOSE: learn to knit.

I am (just barely) 18, living in Austin, Texas, and ready to ship out to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Vanderbilt University in the fall. 

I am also obsessed with knitting and crocheting. 

This obsession hints that I already know how to knit and crochet (which I do), so you might wonder why I'm blogging about "learning to knit." I knit all the time, but I haven't really ventured into the big world of possibilities that is knitting/crocheting, mostly sticking to simple stuff like blankets and scarves. I have made a few hats, one pair of socks, and a messenger bag, but that's about it. Thus, I know more than most but not nearly as much as many about the fiber arts. 

In my attempt to learn more, I have found LOADS of blogs, lessons, forums, and helpful resources for people just starting to knit (stuff like how-to-purl, the difference between wool and acrylic yarn, the joys of circular needles, and what to do when your cast-on edge looks funny), which I don't really need anymore. I have also found a bunch of patterns, blogs, forums, etc. for knitting veterans that I can barely begin to comprehend. I concluded that what the internet needs is something in the middle: me. 

And SO!! I come to my purpose. 

This blog will be a documentation of my knitting/crocheting adventures; as I try new things, techniques, and patterns, I will post pictures and comments of my current projects, problems I have encountered, and my methods for overcoming those obstacles. 

This blog will be mostly for my own benefit, so I can track my progress and look back in a year and say "Gee whiz, look how far I've come!!!" I wouldn't mind, however, if other people read or learned from this blog. If you like it, let me know. If you have helpful tips for how to get out of the pickle-of-the-day, please comment. I'd love to hear from you and benefit from your feedback, so drop me a line. :-)

It is quite ridiculous how excited I am to advance my skills and become the best knitter I can be. I've caught a glimpse of the immense possibilities, and I can't wait to get started. :D

~YoungKnitter